Derwood woman waits to hear immigration status of Haitian siblings

Before the earthquake, 19,000 Haitians had applied for American citizenship, says spokeswoman

Ketlard Boursiquot says her mother, Edith LaFontant, fears that she will never see her children, who are still in Haiti, before she dies.

A decade.

That's how long Ketlard Boursiquot has been trying as a sponsor to bring several family members to the United States. Since 1998, the Derwood resident and her mother have filled out applications after applications. They have spent thousands of dollars in fees. But the immigration process remains stubbornly slow.

Now there's an even bigger problem, because the three sisters whom Boursiquot has been trying to help live in Haiti, a country in ruins. Last month's massive earthquake has destroyed the island nation's capital, Port-au-Prince. It has also left the siblings homeless and complicated their immigration process.

Boursiquot's other sister from Haiti, Deleourdes LaFontant, was visiting here to help take care of their ailing mother when the earthquake demolished her home in Haiti. So her husband and three children are homeless, as well.

Boursiquot, a medical assistant at a private clinic in Rockville, sat recently in her living room, looking through pictures of her nieces, nephews and siblings in happier times.

She grew upset while she spoke of the process that she and her mother, Edith LaFontant, 67, of Takoma Park, have endured for more than 10 years: Call this office. Check that status. Send $300 for this and send $75 for that. Now they see the effects of the earthquake and the horrors and hardships that so many Haitians must endure.

Boursiquot said her mother fears she will pass away before she sees her children who are in Haiti. LaFontant, who immigrated to the United States in 1989, must take dialysis treatment four times a week. Boursiquot said her mother's battle with kidney failure frequently lands her in the hospital for days at a time.

"Right now, it's just torture on top of torture," Boursiquot said. "We can't change the laws, but some things don't make sense."

Chris Rhatigan, a spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said 19,000 Haitians had already applied for American citizenship before the earthquake. Boursiquot, who came to the United States in 1982, said her three sisters may be among those applicants.

For Haitians with a pending status, such as Boursiquot's sisters, "they will just have to wait because the situation in Haiti is just so hectic right now," Rhatigan said.

In the days following the earthquake, Rhatigan said immigration services set up a toll-free hot line for sponsor families in the United States to check on the welfare of their loved ones in Haiti. More than 300,000 have called not only to learn how their loved ones are doing, but also to learn how to bring them here to the United States, Rhatigan said.

Immigration services does not track increases in requests for citizenship following natural disasters, Rhatigan said. In 2008, 21,229 Haitians became naturalized citizens. No statistics were available for 2009, she said.

The naturalization process "won't stop" for those Haitians who started it before the earthquake, but the procedure can take a long time, Rhatigan said.

"People from Haiti must live in the U.S. for five years before they can apply for permanent citizenship," Rhatigan said. "In that five-year period, they can live in the U.S. with a family sponsor and they must maintain a good standing, which includes a consistent home and clean criminal record."

Jewru Bandeh, assistant director of the Upcounty Regional Services Center in Germantown, said he knows the immigration process all too well.

In 1975, Bandeh arrived in Tennessee from Gambia, a West Africa nation, on a student visa to attend high school. He decided to stay as a permanent resident. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen 10 years ago. Shortly after he earned his citizenship, he decided to apply to sponsor his cousin, also from Gambia.

"It's much easier if the person you are trying to sponsor is already in the country, because then you're just dealing with the American government," Bandeh said. "If they are in another country, things can get complicated because of the difference in governments and it can be really bad if that person is coming from a country at war.

"I would suggest that anyone trying to bring family in from another country get an immigration lawyer," he added.

Boursiquot, who does not have an immigration lawyer, is frustrated. But she is determined to help her sisters.

"I actually called immigration last week and they told me I have to send in documents saying how much I make and how long I have lived in my home," she said Monday night. "It's worth it, though. It would be better to have some of them here instead of on the streets in Haiti."